If you’ve ever read the brilliant masterpiece of a book by Tim Ferris called “The 4-Hour Work Week”, he advocates something called a “media fast”. If you read any self-improvement book written in the last ten years, they all recommend we cut out TV and newspapers from our daily schedule. The willful effort to not ingest what the TV spits at you everyday will create value and opportunities in your life you wouldn’t have dreamed possible. Have you noticed there are no business, adult education, or financial programs or stations on television. Even the “business channels” show sensationalized (and negative) mind junk in order to boost ratings.
What Others Call Dumb, I Call Voluntary Ignorance
When you undergo your quest for voluntary ignorance, people around you will release phrases like “You haven’t heard about the DC sniper?”, “Have you been under a rock or something, Trayvon Martin’s killer got off!”, or “Why don’t YOU know about this, I usually get the important news from YOU.” It’s normal to feel uneasy about this line of questioning. It kind of makes you feel left out of the loop. What you shouldn’t forget, though, is that loop is filled with murderous stories of negative pain in other people’s lives. Do you want your life to filled with someone else’s pain?
If you do this in the academic sense, other students and faculty might call you mentally challenged, special, slow, dense, simple, or …ummmmm…what’s the word….ummmmm….DUMB! Some don’t realize the difference between willful ignorance and mental deficiencies. You may hear things about yourself like “She seems bright but when I ask her a question, she’s never able to give me an answer”. Should we be judged because we don’t want to jump into the parade of your negative thinking? I think not!
It’s also commonplace not to answer the questions of those people we don’t particularly care for. How many times did we have a teacher we didn’t like, then they asked us a question, and we were thinking “F*ck you, Joe Blow! Why don’t you call on someone who gives a sh*t”.
Try the “media fast” if it fits into your lifestyle. If it’s not right for you, don’t try it. No skin off my yellow ass. I’m only here to provide information that helps get you where you might become the best you. I’m guessing since most of us have been told what to do since we walked down our first hallway called Mom’s “vajayjay”, it’s very hard to proceed in life without instruction, even if it’s the meaningless drivel coming from the idiot box. If you are over the age of 18, there is no f*cking excuse. You now have the legal power and faculties to make your own decisions and lead your own life.
If you are content to do what Mom and Dad say, follow the social norms, and do what all your friends are doing, you’ll get exactly what they have. What’s that? A mortgage, kids, no extra money, excessive debt, a fat spouse that used to be hot, and an eerie, creeping feeling that there has to be more to life than this. If you are a follower, just turn the TV back on and indulge in the famed celebrities lives, while yours fades away.
Professor X